Russian smugglers are continuing to import luxury cars from Europe despite sanctions, writes "Financial Times", quoted by BNR.
Wealthy customers are being hit with hefty fees as importers are forced to use longer routes.
Russian smugglers are charging their customers tens of thousands of euros to import luxury cars from Europe as EU sanctions in response to Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine have hit the country's wealthy.
"Financial Times" identified five Russian companies that offer to smuggle cars from Europe with engine sizes sufficient to fall under EU sanctions, which were imposed in 2022 as part of a ban on the export of luxury goods to Russia.
One of these importers is "Avtoimport", with German brands BMW and Mercedes being particularly popular. "Financial Times" lists more than 50 luxury cars from 25 different German dealerships on the Russian website Auto.ru, which Russian importers offer with an average markup of about 19,000 euros.
The smugglers often present themselves as intending to take the car to a third country.
The financial publication tracked a black Mercedes-Benz S350 sold in January 2024 to a Kyrgyz taxi company by German car dealer Kessler & Haag. The vehicle was registered in March in the name of a Moscow taxi company. A sales representative for "Avtoimport" told a "Financial Times" reporter posing as a buyer that German cars shipped from Europe "are being transported not through Belarus, as was the case before the sanctions," but through Turkey, Georgia and then to Russia".
However, the newspaper has information that, although in small numbers, cars are still arriving through Belarus.